Local businessman arrested

A Caymanian businessman was arrested Thursday on suspicion of immigration violations.

Mario Rankin told the Caymanian Compass Friday that he was arrested Thursday and taken to the Immigration Department.

Mr. Rankin said both immigration and police officers were present at the department while he was there. [*]

Immigration officials confirmed Friday that there was an investigation involving Mr. Rankin, but declined to say anything more. The police service directed all questions to the Immigration Department.

Mr. Rankin said he has not been charged with any crimes, so far as he was aware.

Mr. Rankin said he was told initially that allegations against him involved the employment of a dump truck driver without a work permit.

However, he said that officers obtained a total of seven warrants Thursday to search his apartment, his wife’s home and several businesses within the Doghouse/Brickhouse complex in Grand Harbour that Mr. Rankin took ownership of on 1 November.

Mr. Rankin said officers did perform some searches at the Grand Harbour businesses, but that he got the distinct impression the searches of those establishments were a mere pretext.

“Their whole interest sort of shifted after the search warrants [were obtained],” Mr. Rankin said. ”They were no longer interested in whether I violated Immigration Law, they were far more interested in searching my private residence.”

Mr. Rankin is a member of the United Democratic Party, serving as the district committee chairman in Bodden Town. He is also a close ally of former Premier McKeeva Bush, who is himself under a criminal investigation by police.

He declined to speculate as to whether that association had anything to do with Thursday’s arrest.

3 COMMENTS

@Southernboy…lol, a lot of people? lol good one ………. maybe 3 people associated with a party who’ve been arrested/investigated but not ‘charged’!

But hey if a political party can manage to fool us Caymanians and make this look like British vs Caymanians you know that’s going to be the story line, since we probably have more anti-colonialists than we have persons who truly respect our country and the fact that we are a British Overseas Territory.